Create an Emergency Response Plan For Your Business

Having an Emergency Response Plan in place can offer guidance for you, your employees, and your customers in times of uncertainty, and will support an effective response to the challenges that may present themselves. A well developed Emergency Response Plan will also allow your business to recover quicker and more efficiently.

Key Considerations For Your Plan

When putting together your Emergency Response Plan, it’s critical that you consider the following:

• Make your emergency plan concise, but simple and easy to understand for anyone in your organization.
• Consider even the small processes in your business. Engage your team members and process owners for input here; they might be able to identify things that you, as the business owner, might miss. A neighbourhood grocery store that has someone assigned to check that the freezer stays on and running could save themselves a lot of money in the event of a “stay at home” directive.
• Do a vulnerability assessment. What hazards have the most impact on your business activities? Different hazards will affect different types of businesses differently.

The Canadian Center for Occupational Health and Safety Emergency Planning (CCOHS) has additional information and tools to help you when it comes to emergency planning.

Emergency Response Plan Template

BusinessLink has put together an Emergency Response Plan Template that you can use and tailor to your individual business needs.

Download the template